Prof. Scott Lucas
As Robert Fisk has written, ‘The real and frightening story starts now.’[i] It may be the only occasion where he is in accord with neo-conservatives like William Kristol: ‘The mission begins in Baghdad, but it does not end there.’[ii]
‘The new caliphs’ are putting out their proclamations.[iii] Donald Rumsfeld cannot meet the Iraqi public because of security considerations — unbeknownst to the Secretary of Defense, his convoy is fired on three times as he enters Baghdad. He does declare on US-run radio and television, ‘Iraq belongs to you….We will stay as long as necessary to help you [take control] and not a day longer,’ although he adds testily to journalists, ‘I don’t know [how long US troops will remain in Iraq] — and it’s not knowable.’[iv] Richard Perle commands the benevolent authority of the occupier, ‘What we have won on the battlefield is the right to establish consistent policies that are for the benefit of the people of Iraq….It is not as if we are looking for anything for ourselves.’[v]